Friday, April 6, 2018

The XXV Corps, Union Army


From Wikipedia.

The two brigades of USCT who accompanied the Fort Fisher expeditions were part of the XXV Corps.  Chaplain Henry M. Turner was a member of this corps.

The XXV (25th) Corps was made up almost entirely of black troops previously belonging to the X and XVIII Corps in the Union Army.

On December 3, 1864, the two corps of the Army of the James reorganized.  The white units went to the XXIV Corps.  Black troops became the XXV Corps under Major Genral Godfrey Weitzel.

The newly created corps did not have much of a role in the waning days of the Petersburg Campaign, but some of its units were at the two battles of Fort Fisher.  After that they were more heavily engaged in the subsequent Wilmington Campaign, resulting in the capture of that city in late February.

One of their most noteworthy accomplishments was being the first Union troops to enter Richmond, Virginia, after its evacuation.

In May of 1865, they were sent to Texas to stand as the "Army of Occupation" against Napoleon III in Mexico.  They disbanded in 1866.

--Old B-Runner

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